Filtering of articles
One of the frequent questions our users are sending us is related to how to use EasyDNNnews module on multiple pages with different content. The answer is affirmative, of course, as EasyDNNnews module can indeed be used on multiple pages, with entirely different content and different settings for each instance of the module. Thus on one page you can use this module as a blog, on another use it just to show a few news items, on the third page you can use it for documentation, etc.
This is possible through filtering of articles. Articles are organized into categories and categories can be filtered in each instance of the module. There are some other parameters as well, such as authors, featured articles, events and tags, all of which enable you to filter articles.
Filtering articles, or how to display different content in different instances of the module
To understand how filtering articles works in EasyDNNnews module, it is important to know that the module is centralized, that is, all the content added to EasyDNNnews module is available in all instances of the news module. However, options for filtering articles in each individual instance enable us to display exactly what we want. Additionally, permissions allow us to limit who sees what, but permissions are the subject of another article.
After adding an instance of the news module to the page, it is necessary to set up article filtering, that is, set up which articles will be displayed in this instance.
To set that up, it is necessary to go to the module's Settings and click section 4. Filter articles.
There, a panel with all the available filtering options is displayed. The first thing to do is switch settings to "Custom settings (instance)", followed by switching section 4. Filter articles to "Module instance".
Apply filters
This option allows article filtering.
Select specific articles
This option allows for manual selection of articles that need to be displayed. If this option is switched on, only the selected articles are displayed.
Order articles by
This option allows for the choice of criteria to determine the order of articles, including Descending and Ascending.
Categories to display
This option allows for the choice of categories articles will be selected from. If you uncheck "Display all categories", you will be enabled to choose categories you wish articles to be displayed from.
Authors to display
This option allows for the articles written by selected authors to be displayed. If you uncheck "Display all authors", you will be enabled to choose authors whose articles will be displayed.
Featured articles
The option "Show only featured articles" allows only the articles marked as featured to be displayed.
The option "Keep featured articles on top" allows for all the featured articles to be displayed before all other articles, disregarding the publish date.
Display articles and events
This option allows for displaying articles only, or events only, or both.
Displaying of past events
Set the criteria to display events whose start date has ended. The option "Show all" will display all events, disregarding the fact that they have already ended. We can enter the number of days to be set in the past for past events in the field "Limit to number of days in the past". If the set value is 0, the criteria for the event's listing will be the current date. In that case, neither of the past events will be displayed.
Filter articles by tags
This option provides selecting tags according to which articles will be displayed. For instance, if we select tags "cars" and "trucks", only those articles that contain tags "cars" and "trucks" will be displayed.